STUDENT OC TIME here's Aprium !!!

another post-script on A Journey to Love and why I am ok with the Sad Ending™

what's truly messed up but also the reason the series even WORKS is that ultimately all of these characters could have lived if they stuck to their original agenda and outlook.

The delegation squad originally are like fuck everything & everyone, we are here and probably gonna die for ONE THING - clear the names of (Qian: avenge 🔪) the fallen Liudao Hall comrades. They don't care much about the emperor except for a means to an end, aren't expecting to fix anything for the Wu state by going thru this bullshit, and they hate everything about An, who they have been playing spy games with for years, which cost them family members, and they just lost 80K soliders from the war.

But in the last string of episodes they found the bodies & their brothers, gave the death rites, and THEY HAVE THE EDICT. The original goals, they're all done! They could pretend "I do not see it" and be just like the border city officials who aren't taking action with the excuse that they didn't see proof of any invasion threat, blah blah it was implausible. The guys and the cowardly Wu emperor could just go home.

Ning Yuanzhou always planned to do this 1 final act and nope-out. He could have left with Ruyi and let the geo politics play out as they may.

Ruyi had already achieved her empress revenge arc. She'd even gone a step further to free the White Sparrows.

But each character makes their final choice to fight & die because they are not the people from the start of the journey. Every episode we watched lead them to be the people who would make this choice. Opening the princess YY & Ruyi's eyes to the world opened the Hall squad's eyes as well. Being introduced to people from An as fellow humans who can hurt and laugh and want. Finding allies and commonalities. Questioning why. Mentoring a young royal who wants to understand what leadership means and what do we owe to each other. Modeling for Ruyi what partnership and teamwork means. Getting that damn edict because the Scarlet Guard leader returned an honorable act with his own, stepping back from guarding the Wu emperor. Sorta adopting a volitile An duke with violent attachment issues.

Following their original objectives would have lead to a bittersweet but happy ending as the core ensemble ride off into the sunset with their victory and let An & Wu burn, who had taken so, so much from them. But it wouldn't have been true to the characters we got to know & saw change from the experiences we shared with them. The intentional, ultimate sacrifices underline the lessons learned and lend greater meaning to its themes.

I ended up at mohos house. I was feeling down and just popped in. Mostly was talking with his mom. Was really nice actually, if a bit awkward. I chatted with his sister and mom. His sister had gotten married, new last name was like, DeMonto or something. An awkward moment where I clarified that she had gotten married. Pretty realistic chatting for a dream. I told a story or two about moho. Eventually conversation just kind of died off and I just chilled. Jody at one point asks me if I'm just gonna sit there; or something to that effect. I say well maybe. Kind of just. Idk. Chilling. Existing. Then a bunch of their friends showed up and sat down at the table to eat food, and a few went to the tv to play smash. I walked over to the kitchen to grab a water cuz I figured it would make Jody happy. Their Dad comes thru and gives me a weird fist bump thing. Like a secret handshake but all fist. Also definitely not their dad but I thought it was in the dream. They kept all of their glasses in the cabinet prefilled with water and ice, which was weird. I walked past the table and Terf Alex was there and froze while eating as we made eye contact. She said something like "Let me eat first" and then I just walked away. I pulled out my gameboy advance and wasplayomg on their couch. Judy started playing custom Kaizo mario levels on the tv. My music kept going on for some reason. I think someone asked what I was playing and I responded "pokemon Scarlet" on the gameboy I guess. Everyone kind of disappears after a bit long of mulling around and I'm about to leave. One guy is asking me where the bathroom is. I point him behind the stairs where theres two actually. I get kind of lost in their house for a moment before making it back to the living room to say goodbye. The furniture has been like pushed aside. And noone is out there so I just kind of stand there confused. Apparently there are a few bathrooms attached to that room and everyone had gone into them. I see Alex and who I'm guessing was her boyfriend come out of one, naked. I dont really know what to do so I just stand there. Then everyone does the same. And I surrounded by naked people. The boyfriend asks me if I'm staying and I say no I was just gonna chill for a hit longer then head out. I turn around to the kitchen not really caring that Alex didnt get a chance to yell at me or whatever. Or that everyone took a shower in their like 10 bathrooms. And theres a bunch of naked people behind me too. I start walking past then when one girl says

"It's an orgy."

And I feel real embarrassed. I start walking out and a shitload of people are pouring in. I walk past a bunch of people I know and just dont make eye contact. Thinking about how this'll be a funny story I leave. I get stopped by a bouncer because apparently I need to sign out. The front of their house has turned into a makeshift entryway.

I'm getting tired again so I'm gonna wrap this up. I just talked to them for a bit. The end.

Ok later the only part of the dream I remember is my dad talking about how he was getting into 8chan.

looking thru the available pokemon in the 2 games im currently playing as entirely original trainer characters to make sure i have enough names that fit their themes for all the pokemon i know i want them to have

shale’s team changes dramatically after his initial gym challenge but obviously the team he became champion with is still incredibly important to him so here’s the list ive got for him so far

i dont know which are gonna stay on the main /final team yet of course that’ll be decided as i play but. yea. also disclaimer i AM catching both sandlie and drilbur for sure and i have extra names on the backburner for other pokemon i might decide i like but rn it’s looking like drilbur will be named eurinome. potential names for the sandile are gerymone or thymone maybe but im leaning towards the first one. also might change the litwick’s name to chaldene

as for lyre (scarlet trainer), her team is hopefully all going to be named after spanish rivers? hers will be harder to plot out on the account of bigger pokedex full of plenty of pokemon i havent used before but i wont really have to worry about assigning names ahead of time since theyre so much easier to change. as of now, her starter is a quaxly named tegus and she calls her koraidon “koríodon” mixing in the word río since that’s just. river.

The Art School AU nobody asked for

I’ve had this idea for an emercury AU fic kicking around in my head for a while now, but I have so many other projects on my plate rn and nowhere near enough time or energy to write it. So instead I’m just gonna post all the deets in the hopes that one day I’ll be able to come back and actually do something with it.

Emercury Art School AU Summary:

“Emerald Sustrai may have managed to get into the dance program at one of the most prestigious art schools on Remnant, but she has one big issue – after just one year of study, she’s barely managing to stay afloat even with two part-time jobs and her grades have been suffering for it. Fortunately for her, her school offers extra credit to any students who are cast in the school’s yearly exhibition performance.  Unfortunately, this year’s production’s theme is “passion” and the only spot up for audition for sophomores in the dance program is for a couples’ dance performance based on said theme.   

Enter one Mercury Black—a fellow dance student with a reputation unsavory enough to overshadow his considerable talent, and quite possibly the last person on Remnant Emerald would ever want to work with…He also happens to literally be the only other person she can find to pair up with her for the show.  Somehow, improbably, the unlikely duo actually make a pretty good team once they finally start to work out their differences, but as they perfect their routine for the big audition, Emerald finds herself in a whole new predicament: She may have set out to steal the show, but if she’s not careful she might just end up getting her heart stolen in the process...”

So yeah…as you can see, the basic premise is that Em and Merc are classmates at this school for the arts, but both of them are having trouble earning passing marks in this one foundation course they both need to graduate—Emerald because she is completely on her own and has to work a lot to pay for her living expenses and studio fees and stuff even though she has a pretty decent scholarship, and Mercury because he keeps really odd hours and misses class quite a bit for unexplained reasons.  Noticing that she’s struggling even though she is a gifted dancer, one of Emerald’s teachers suggests that she try out for the big show that their school puts on every school year, since anyone who makes the cut receives a bunch of extra credit and each faculty also gives a grant to the students who they judge to have put on one of the top three best performances.  The problem is, there are only a limited number of spots up for audition for each graduating year of each concentration course due to time and resource restraints, and this year’s 2nd year dance spot happens to be billed as a couples’ performance.

Emerald hits up everybody she can think of, but they're all too busy or can't commit to the project for other reasons. Pretty much out of options at that point, she’s just about ready to give up when she has a chance encounter with a classmate, one Mercury Black, after school.  Through some sort of clerical error they managed to book the exact same practice studio for exactly the same time, and since they both really need the extra practice time and neither one is willing to back down, they end up sharing the room for a few hours.  When they do, Emerald is really surprised to find out that Mercury is actually a really talented dancer, she just never noticed before because even though they have some classes together he comes in very irregularly.  After a long, sleepless night contemplating doing something really, really ill-advised, she ends up approaching him at school the next day to propose that they team up and audition for the big show together since they appear to both be failing the same class and need the credit really bad, and to her surprise he agrees rather easily.

Thus, the two of them become reluctant accomplices. However, once they start working out the choreography together, they just can’t seem to see eye-to-eye on anything, which doesn’t bode very well for their performance considering that it’s supposed to embody the show’s theme. Emerald is more of a ballet dancer, while Mercury is more of a street dancer, having started out with breaking and had almost zero classical training before starting school.  After a while (with a lot of practice and a LOT of unsolicited intervention from their nosy friends) our two favorite mayhem children finally start to bond and find some common ground, and naturally, lighthearted romantic hijinks ensue and sparks fly between the unlikely duo as they struggle to cooperate and put together a passionate couples’ dance good enough to get into the final production.

The Supporting Cast:

Em’s peeps -- Cinder (in the class above, sort of her mentor and was the one who encouraged her to apply to school in the first place), Weiss (met in freshman year, in the same ballet, jazz and contemporary classes this year, snarking buddies), Blake (ended up in most of the same classes together this year), Coco (upperclassman in the design course, loves dressing Em in different outfits and often forces her to stand in as a house model for her when she needs to work late into the night to meet a deadline)

Merc’s peeps -- Sun (met in class in freshman year, breaking and sparring buddies), Neptune (met thru Sun, in pop class together this year), Scarlet (ditto), Blake (in a few classes together, waits tables at the same diner where he works), Yang (met at a stunt training camp the Summer of freshmen year, waits tables at the same restaurant, fellow gym rat and occasional sparring partner)

Salem -- Headmistress of the most prestigious arts school on Remnant; has a bitter love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with her ex

Oz -- The headmistress’ ex-husband who runs a very successful Circe du Soleil type show and recruits a lot of his performers from her graduating classes

Glinda -- Chair of the dance department; Contemporary and ballroom dance instructor; is so so weary of her faculty’s incessant bickering

Winter -- Ballet instructor; came up in a rigid traditional Atlesian ballet school and generally looks down on all the other dancing disciplines and their instructors (”What they do can BARELY be described as dancing”); wishes the dance department were as disciplined as the music department

Qrow -- Jazz and tap dance instructor; doesn’t think that what his sister does really counts as actual dancing; jazz hands, rain hands and double dream hands and he’s dead serious about em

Raven -- Acrobatic and contortion instructor; thinks jazz hands look really stupid, just like Qrow and his corny, goofy ass dancing; was actually trained extensively in traditional Mistralian Highlands step dancing from childhood alongside her brother and used to perform internationally before switching disciplines

Tai Yang -- Hip-hop and pop dance instructor; specializes in pop and lock; Raven's ex; constantly catching strays from Qrow and Raven’s feud; just happy to still have a job tbh

Arthur & Tyrian -- Co-chairs of the theater department; Arthur teaches classical acting and Tyrian teaches method acting and they both think the other doesn’t teach “real acting”; somehow their department is actually really popular and all the students love the yearly musical theater production, which is the only time they ever seem to agree on anything

Hazel -- Long-suffering theater production instructor; works really hard to keep things running smoothly in the background despite the department heads' antics; hates the headmistress’s ex with a burning passion

Ironwood -- Chair of the music department; runs his department like a well-oiled machine and has put the fear of god into all his students; has won the national marching band championships seven years running

All the other students are in various departments at their school—e.g. Ruby plays the sax, Yang and Jaune are both acting majors, Oscar plays the cello, Nora and Ren play the tuba and the erhu respectively, Pyrrha is a triple threat etc.

A bunch of random plot points:

-Merc, Em and their friends are all in the same foundation classes together and the two of them start off vaguely aware of one another mostly owing to the fact that all their friends are friends, but they don’t really know each other (…or DO they??? *DUN DUNNN DUNNNNN*)

-Most of the faculty at their school can’t stand each other and the different departments have been engaged in bitter rivalries for years but somehow they all work really well together because at the end of the day they’re all professionals who are good at their jobs

-All of their friends are convinced that they’re secretly dating or hooking up at the very least, because they suddenly start hanging around each other a lot, holing up in the practice studio together until all hours of the night and showing up school at the same time the next morning and are constantly snipping at each other whenever they interact.  Merc’s squad is actually v supportive and (against his wishes) are doing their very best to try and help their boy lay down the mac (Sun: “Hey Merc! Thanks for letting me drive the convertible last weekend!😉👍”) , even though they all generally acknowledge that he’s way out of his league and is headed down the path to utter destruction. Meanwhile, Em’s friends are pretty appalled by her abysmally low standards (Weiss: “Emerald, you’re dating down....WAY down.🙁”) and think that shes going thru some kind of self-destructive phase or something.  They’re convinced she’s about to have her life absolutely ruined by that one smirky fuccboi type from their grade who has super sus habits and “reeks of criminality” (also Weiss).

-Almost everybody including most of his friends are convinced that Mercury is doing something really, really shady for cash on the low because he keeps super odd hours, misses class a lot and is always showing up with all these bizarre, unexplained injuries.  In reality, Em finds out that it’s all because he’s been training as a stunt-man outside of school and works a lot of weird hours at his part-time job so that he can pay off his prosthetics, finance his extra courses and pay for his own living expenses, etc. Although he actually was involved in some serious criminal activity in the past, he’s been trying his best to stay on the straight and narrow ever since he finally cut ties with his scumbag dad, and now just works a lot of nights and weekends as a short order cook at the local greasy spoon.

-Once Mercury realizes that Emerald is like...constantly on the brink of starvation because she’s a destitute vagabond baby but has too much pride to ask for help, he starts subtly bringing her leftovers from work, which she grudgingly accepts (because he owes her for putting him onto the whole extra credit thing, so it’s not really charity...definitely NOT because she is extremely susceptible to offerings of food and her partner also happens to be a surprisingly good cook).  

-Cinder is in the year above them and has known Emerald since they were in the foster system together as kids. She’s a prodigy at ballet and also a very accomplished acrobat and contortionist (as in, like, can easily shoot an arrow into a bullseye with just her feet while her legs are bent backwards all the way over the top of her head and stuff).  At some point she sits in on one of Em and Merc’s rehearsal sessions and ends up dragging the hell out of them both for being way too stiff and exhibiting almost zero chemistry despite the “obnoxiously obvious sexual tension” between them.  She basically ends up barking directions at them until they alter their choreo a bunch and finally start to look somewhat like an actual couple ("For fuck's sake... Lift her like she's the most precious thing you've ever laid eyes on and you're about to make sweet love to her, you idiot, not like she's a frigging sack of potatoes you're bringing home to peel!!!" "This man is supposed to be the moon to your stars...if you don't loosen up and melt into his arms like your soul is on fire, I will flip ALL this shit over and burn this wretched studio to the ground with both of you trapped inside!!!" ), after which things gradually start to get all awkward and messy between them because they start thinking about one another differently.  

-They get into a bunch of compromising situations by virtue of the fact theatre and dance people are just kinda naked  a lot and don’t care.  At various points in the story their friends will walk in on the two of them in some sort of really eyebrow raising situation, get the complete wrong idea  and run away, which in turn makes the two of them start to feel awkward as hell toward each other.

-Coco forces them to wear matching outfits that she made just for their performance.

-Their act ends up being this spicy contemporary couples’ dance that incorporates a lot of elements of acrobatic dance, breaking and ballet, essentially blending together both of their unique dance backgrounds.

 This story idea has absolutely nothing to do with canon and Remnant is a lot like modern-day Earth with some exceptions, so there are no semblances etc. There’s no antagonist; in fact everyone around them is generally supportive and wants them to succeed--the main conflict comes from Emerald and Mercury only having three brain cells between them and not being used to caring about someone else in a lovey-dovey sort of way. I got the idea when I was watching dance videos online and started remembering all those cheesy dance-themed teen movies from the 90’s and early 2000’s.  It’s pretty much just a wholesome little meet-cute/will-they-won’t-they type school romance in that same vein, where Em and Merc are forced to team up out of necessity, start to fall for each other and then have to deal with all the awkwardness that ensues...all with a bunch of help from their extremely eccentric, meddling-ass friends who are all convinced that the two of them are either already dating or about to be and are trying to keep them both from getting their hearts broken lol

 Whew! Guess that’s about it for now...I’d like to try and flesh this one out more and maybe even publish it as a legit fic one day, but first I’ve gotta get back to work on *signal lost*

So I'm following the map that leads to you; {Alistair && Scarlet}

Alistair and Scarlet had regrouped back at her place and planned their travels. The witch resided a fair distance on the outskirts of Hollowbrook. So they packed their shit and Alistair offered to drive. He placed their suitcases in the back of his vintage car and got behind the wheel. “Ready?” Alistair asked as he pulled his seatbelt over his chest, he received a nod and pulled out of the driveway. He toyed with his radio a bit and it started to play his Elvis Presley cassette tape, in particular his favourite song. “Stuck on you.”. Alistair started to drum his hands against the steering wheel as he hummed along. 

♬ “Gonna run my fingers thru your long black hair Squeeze you tighter than a grizzly bear Uh-uh-uh, Yes-sir-ee, uh, uh I'm gonna stick like glue Stick, because I'm Stuck on you” ♬

Alistair sung along until he noticed Scarlet was watching him, he cleared his throat and turned the volume dial right back. “Sorry...” Alistar apologised, he wasn’t used to having passengers in his car and he often forgot that he would sometimes put performances on to his favourite songs. It was pitiful really, a man of his age. “Alright, enough of that. You’re on directions, missy..” Alistair handed her folded up map of Hollowbrook, watching her unfurl it. She stared at it dumbly, and didn’t feed him any directions on where he was going. “I’m really relying on you here so we don’t get lost.” Alistair reminded her, snatching the map from her hands. He gazed down at it and glanced around for the nearest landmark. He handed it back to her and they were on their way. 

Secret of the Scarlet Hand (PC 2002)

Story: 4/10

Characters: 3/10

Puzzles: 3/10

Chores: 4/10

Final Rating: 5/10

I’ve only played this one once and I honestly can’t remember parts of it or the plot. I love that this was the first appearance of Soony Joon, but other than that all the characters fell flat for me. This one took the educational aspects of Treasure in a Royal Tower and multiplied them by 100, in a bad way. This game played more like a Broderbund game, the puzzles were obnoxious and the play through was erratic (not as linear as its predecessors). Some of the chores involved bouncing back and forth a bunch (like the quizzes). I don’t remember there being any glitches though.  

Plot (spoilers obviously)

Thug Nan gets an internship at Beech Hill, a museum hosting a super big exhibit on the Maya. From the get go you get the impression that maybe this museum can’t afford to do this? Thug Nan is like “wait a minute this internship is paid right?” 

They hand you a list of chores and tell you to get on it. They’re preparing for the exhibition of a giant rock monolith. While doing these chores you meet:

Joanna: Your boss as the museum’s curator. She appears a little young to be running the place and slightly desperate to get income into the museum. Low key she cute tho.

Henrik Vander Hoop: He’s fancy and has an accent. He’s a researcher and knows things about glyphs. Not v social for the most part. 

Ale-ale-jandro: I don’t think I was supposed to like this guy tbh, judging from the responses Nancy had for some of his SJW rants, but yo he’s not wrong. I might be biased as we are basically the same person tho. He works with the consulate and appears to have a close relationship with the museum. He hates Johana and Taylor because they’re pirates. 

Taylor Sinclair: I thought he was a lawyer for some reason? He’s an art dealer, and tbh I’m suspicious of him immediately. I think it’s the mustache. Idk what it is about it but I don’t like it. He calls you into his office because he’s concerned that someone is gonna steal from Beech Hill, which heightens my suspicion of him but whatever. 

As we continue to do errands, we get more of a feel for the museum’s financial situation. When you try to order supplies, the distributor tells you that he sent you to collections and to gtfo.

The next morning, you’re in your office when the alarm goes off, someone has stolen a jade relic of King Pacal’s. The cops come and go, you ask Joanna about it and she gives you the a-ok to snoop up in there. She appears to care more about collecting that insurance monies. Suspicious but ok. 

Henrik is apparently also nowhere to be seen? Suspicious but ok. 

Alejandro and Taylor subtly mention that they were both in the building at the time of the robbery. Idk why either of them would incriminate themselves like that? Suspicious but ok. 

You get a call from Franklin Rose, your dad’s friend that hooked you up with the internship. He’s like legally speaking I need u to investigate this. So Thug Nan is like “aw yee, I’ma do it because you told me to, and not because suspicious Taylor told me to.” 

The robbers left a calling card, because you know, all the smart robbers do that right? Also idk how the cops dropped the ball on this one because the culprit’s calling card is A HAND PRINT. I’da been running the show I would just hand printed everyone in the building, and called it a day. 

So you gotta do some more tedious chores, which you only are able to pull of because the wack who had your internship before you left a bunch of drawings as hints. Soony Joon, I’ma tell u now that I think you’re a mad lad, but also thank you for ur service. 

You get in contact with some other folks that were also struck by the thieves who hit Beech Hill. They send you some more clues. 

THEN HENRIK IS YEETED DOWN THE STAIRS (seriously, what is the deal with this series and stair yeeting?) I’m going to say now that the stairs that Henrik fell down were a lot taller than those of El Paso High School, I’m just saying, idk how Henrik didn’t die but ok. 

Homeboy has amnesia. Johana was booted out of the building for mismanaging the museum and being overall suspicious. You and I know what this means right? Time to trespass go thru everyone’s shit. 

Johana was not happy about being booted out, and begs you to prove that she didn’t steal the pacal relic so the cops will let her go and the board will let her back into the building. I don’t really want to do that but I guess.

I made zero effort to talk Franklin into letting her back in whoops 8D. But she can’t say I didn’t call him. 

Meanwhile Henrik’s nurse/therapist hits you up like “yo he kept saying ur name in his sleep so we think it’s a good idea for you to visit. You can help him get his memory back” Yeah? Well remember that I said that he wasn’t v social? I legit know NOTHING about him, especially since his desk is all locked up. Idk why he was saying my name in his delirium but I hope that he knows that I am completely loyal to Frank Hardy  Ned, and if I were to cheat on him it woulda been with my sweet Maddie in Stay Tuned for Danger. I guess I don’t blame Henrik tho, erryone wants a piece of this Thug Nan. What can I say? I live dangerously. (Altho for once I haven’t been attempted murdered) 

While trying to jog Henrik’s memory you find out:

Henrik probably maybe stole the Pacal, but it sounds like he had Taylor logic. He stole it so the real thieves wouldn’t steal it?

He’s in cahoots with smugglers

Alejandro called the cops on Johana, and needs Thug Nan to “borrow” some papers from her. I don’t like the way he went about it but I respect the balls on this man. 

You gotta find like 5 other relics to open the dumb monolith… great. I still don't know why would want to?

Pacal (the real dood not the relic) built the monolith to suffocate a scribe/reporter that was too nosy for her own good. My dood was harsh.

Thug Nan finds the Pacal because well… she had to. And slowly but surely it begins to come together. Tbh the plot to this game was so convoluted, that I wouldn’t have figured out what I had to do without calling Frank and Joe every other second. 

Somehow I gather all the relics I needed to open the damn box, and you know I’m starting to think. If this Pacal guy didn’t want this scribe lady to ever be found why the eff would he make a key to the tomb in the first place? Whatever. I open the box and T A Y L O R  S I N C L A I R LOCKS ME IN THERE WITH A THOUSAND YEAR OLD ROTTING CORPSE.  THIS MAN IS ABOUT TO FEEL THE WRATH OF THUG NAN. 

Anyway, getting out of there was not that hard, my girl the scribe shoulda made more of an effort, but hey she didn’t have a handy dandy glowstick like moi. When I got out Johana, Alejandro, and a recovered Henry were on the other side waiting? Instead of helping me? They were v creepily like “YOU DID IT NANCY WE KNEW YOU WOULD.” Except they used Dr. Seuss rhymes to tell me this which only made it creepier. Also they knew it was Sinclair without me telling them? Which is like cool but WhY DiDnT U StOp hIm. They play it off as “well he stole the fake stuff” THEY LITERALLY HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT.  

Um, the end?

They left a couple of plot holes unresolved I think? Like Henrik having connections with smugglers. Why did he steal the pacal in the first place? What did he know about Taylor? Who pushed him off the pyramid? Or did he really fall? Alejandro seemed to be peachy with Beech Hill after he found out that the Pacal’s papers were legit? And Johana never asked me about the missing papers, she was also let off with a warning? Okie dokes. 

I Started GW2, 3 months ago and to discover my fav artist indulges in it makes me so happy. STILL SAD I DIDN’T JOIN SOONER FOR SCARLET BRIAR.

i started playing gw2 abouttt 10 months ago!! i’m also kinda sad that i didn’t get to experience scarlet as it was happening BUT i also feel like it’s actually more fun to learn about her retrospectively because it’s not like they had all this Big Event stuff tied down just yet and i woulda gotten disinterested really quickly if i had to wait months for new developments… so i don’t think i woulda enjoyed it as much anyway.

now tho? w this big backlog of story and so many maps?? just yesterday i finished the story of the first dlc and Boy did it ramp up in fun and quality significantly compared to ‘’your story’’ and season 2!! can’t wait to play thru the rest!

that being said, gonna plug my gw art tag and gw FUNNY POSTS featuring me and fellow BEAN guildies.

just a big glam cat necromancer trying to get through the day w their nonesense

mcu wanda is an adult, she is not “just a kid.”

She’s in her late teens (18+) in AoU, that is not a child. Yes, she’s young. Yes, she grew up in a small country that, from her childhood on, was brimming w civil war and chaos. Yes, her childhood and young life were filled to the brim with horrors and destruction. She’s young and unsure, afraid even, but she’s not a child. The ‘borderline’ infantilization of her throughout the movies, though it’s mostly prominent in CW (and hell, if ya wanna get specific about it, AoU too) is fucking weird. It’s odd. She’s old enough to be in the field, fighting, and training w the others. She’s old enough to be a legit, living-on-the-avengers-compound-property, avenger. She’s old enough to be going into other countries on missions, she’s old enough to be mentored by The Black Widow and Captain America, she’s old enough to fight battles, she’s old enough for all of that: but the minute something goes wrong or she’s faced w something less than pleasant, it’s a bout of “oh come on, she’s a kid! How dare you, she’s a kid!” When absolutely no? No, she’s not? She’s young, traumatized, and learning, absolutely. but not a child.

Let’s get technical for a sec, aight? When you go to the mcu maximoff’s wiki and scroll down to their AoU section, it reads as such, quote,

“When the twins reached adulthood, (....) Wanda and her brother took part in various riots to drive the foreign forces out of their streets. (....) The Maximoffs were approached by List who offered them a way to achieve the power needed to drive war out of Sokovia. Although she was initially skeptical, Wanda was convinced by Pietro to agree to the experiments to gain new powers.”

When they reached adulthood, (read: 18+) Sokovia had fully fallen into its civil war and that’s when the Twins were approached by List. (Idc if you want to argue about them thinking it was SHIELD/if they knew it was hydra, I don’t care. The main point being presented is that they underwent voluntary human experimentation. Another thing, because this was mentioned in AoU by I think Steve? A civil war is not the same as an external war. A civil war is not typically where you are fighting for your country, more you’re fighting for who controls your contry. Got it? Cool, moving on.)

She is not a child.

Treating her as such within the movies and then having certain chunks of the fandom push that belief only snowballs the iffy as fuck storytelling mistake that is the ‘as long as my intentions are good, any mistakes made are excusable’ mentality present within the MCU, but especially so in cacw. It’s fucking weird.

Take Clint’s line durint the compound, where after she’s said she’s caused enough problems and that it’s likely better for her to stay (content, not dialogue) he casually manipulates asks her into joining the fight by insinuating that the only way for her to make amends is to fight more, but he refers to their age difference w that high school comment. I can’t remember it word for word but paraphrased it’s essentially ‘if you want to make amends, you get off your ass. You wanna stay here and mope, you can go back to high school.’ Now obviously, we’ve learned thru mcu Clint’s meegar character development that he’s absolutely the type to refer to anyone significantly younger than him as a ‘kid’, he’s presented as that type of a character, that kind of a guy. Many people allege that his words are in reference to their pseudo familial connection but ehh, that’s up to personal speculation.

My longwinded point is that Clint and Steve have shown a repeated habit of infantalizing her, despite her adult age. Idc if it’s because she’s younger or bc of a sentimental connection between the lot, she’s in her early 20’s come cacw, the repeated comments about her being w kid (I know the high school moping comment was made more in reference to her behavior, rather than her age, but the phrasing is absolutely off for what they were going for and it’s still weird so)

Whether that be bc of their age differences, their sentimental affections, the mentor ship relationships towards her; whatever, it doesn’t really matter, because in the end: they’re still treating this then 18+ now 20+ year old woman like she’s a 14 year old. That’s,, that’s weird. It’s weird.

If you follow the mcu timeline and the information present, she and pietro are already 18, if not older, in the end credits scene for TWS. There’s about a year jump between TWS and AoU, putting her at about 19 in AoU, if you want to be a bit handwavy. (I’m personally of the idea that because the twins were already adults before list approached them about the experiments, they’re likely closer to 19 in the TWS end credits scene where it’s apparent that they’ve been with List long enough for their powers to manifest/start manifesting but it’s eh) That may be a little on the nose but for the sake of this, we’re gonna be a little on the nose. Alright? So she and pietro are at about 19 in AoU, young but by no stretch of the imagination are they children. Then, we jump from AoU to CW. There’s another year jump between AoU and CW, which is putting her in her early 20’s, let’s say 20 exactly for semantics sake.

CW specifically is where a lot of the infantilization and weird shit comes into play, which is even weirder to me specifically bc in this film, she’s absolutely not a child? She’s not a teenager or a weak-willed infant, she’s 20! And then again, we jump from CW to IW, where there’s a 2 year jump in time. That puts her at 22. 22! (On the nose again, I know, it’s likely not exactly year by year, but still) We jump again from IW and endgame, w the 5 year jump and even more semantics, she’s in her late 20’s. 27ish, to be a bit more specific. From her introduction to the latest film presented, she’s isn’t nor has she ever been a child.

So why are people (specifically Clint and Steve lmfao) so fucking insistent that she’s a kid?

(The time jump confirmations I’m using are coming from interviews and statements Joe Russo has given in the last year plus or so lmao, so don’t @ me about my stretching the timeline to fit my agenda or some shit)

Just all around, it’s a fucking weird story aspect to have at play, especially for as long as it was (mostly between AoU and CACW with contextual stuff scattered in IW, not much of note but it’s kinda there). It infantilizes this (currently) 20+ year old character to a near dangerous state, which brings us all the way back to that childish as fuck statement made in CW, the ‘you locked me in my room’ one. Your room.. you mean the several multi-million dollar facility with hundreds of amenities and your robo-boyfriend? And yes, her situation should have been explained to her much more throughouly, that’s something I absolutely stand by but also.. she was watching the news. She knows people are angry, going for the jugular, Steve’s little ‘we can’t save everyone’ speech absolutely doesn’t change the fact that the public is afraid and that they know her face. “Mr. Stark would like to prevent the possibility of another public incident” yeah, like say if she had gone to the store and had people come after her, something like that? She wasn’t even under official house arrest, she was making dinner with her boyfriend and hanging around. That “you locked me in my room” Comment is something I’d expect to hear from my 11 year old niece, an actual child, not a 20-something year old woman who also happens to be the mcu’s Scarlet Witch. It’s.. weird and iffy as fuck, a really bad writing choice, and something that shouldn’t have been done but oops it was and now we’re left w all this shit to pick and poke at while we cry about other shit. Nice.

2019-01-14

days before his too-formal request took place, reenie had had a dream. with heavy steps, she walked toward the door the maid had opened; gabriel was there, and his smile was fake, she noted. with each step, each glance at him, it seemed her heart was tearing apart slowly.

indeed, he’d become distant as of late. up until his birthday in november 2018, they had enjoyed a heart-fluttering relationship, almost like that of a romantic movie. reenie and gabriel often when on dates to pricey restaurants and ended the night drunk on expensive white wine, many times making love and waking up to have breakfast while adoring the outstanding view of the city from reenie’s penthouse. though the richness of their relationship laid within, of course — gabriel loved her as much as she loved him, perhaps he loved her more; and this was draining him, maybe. but it wasn’t her fault; it was nobody’s fault. sometimes relationships get worn out, like clothes or articles of any type that you handle and fumble way too much when you shouldn’t. reenie didn’t quite feel worn out herself, but gabriel was, though not visibly. so, reenie did not notice the teeny shift in their relationship.

during his past birthday, nothing out of ordinary had taken place — well, not in the eyes of reenie. for gabriel, a new window had been opened. that evening was spent at gabriel’s apartment with guests from different areas of his life, though mostly they were colleagues. also not out of the ordinary was lux’s attendance, which was a bit unpleasant for both reenie and gabriel; luckily, lux had come with a friend who distracted her enough from causing drama. when reenie went to the restroom at some point during the evening and came back to the living room, she saw gabriel enthusiastically chatting with lux’s friend — reenie did not find this odd at all, so she approached them; but when she did so, the vibe between them shifted, suddenly becoming awkward. the girl, whose name reenie later on learned was scarlet, was slightly shorter than her, skinnier, had angelical features and long dark brown hair. it was at some point during the night when their eyes encountered that she knew there was something eerie about her, something that felt like a threat on a deep level. reenie was not jealous, she was frightened, for a moment, as she locked eyes with scarlet — eyes that seemed to turn wholly pitch-black. the threat of scarlet’s presence was enough for reenie to disregard completely the most evident threat posing over her nose; scarlet was not there by accident.

the coming weeks, reenie sent one of her trusted private detectives to  investigate scarlet. there was not much he could find out as the girl, though korean of ethnicity, had not been born in south korea, so there were no records of her in this country. the detective also told reenie that scarlet was just settling in seoul, living alone in a rented apartment in a middle-class area of seoul. from pictures he’d taken of her, it could be seen that she frequented herbal shops — this gave reenie a better idea on who or what she could be.

after a month of reenie’s detective following scarlet around and not finding out anything else that could be of importance, she thanked him for his work and informed him she wouldn’t need any more of his services. during that month, reenie was so intrigued about scarlet that she had seemed to forget about gabriel’s (or anybody else’s) existence. on his part, gabriel was far too entertained chatting day and night via text messaging with scarlet; like a puppet, he was being pulled by scarlet to serve a greater purpose, but such a thing never even crossed his mind — for gabriel, he was simply re-encountering a friend from his childhood, a friend he had liked a lot back then, but whom he couldn’t date as he was far too troubled by his situation with lux. also in his mind, his late night chats with scarlet were innocent things; he was not doing anything wrong, was he?

a month later, gabriel, who had not spent new year’s eve with reenie, was calling her, asking her out for dinner. what was coming was no surprise for neither of them — they weren’t speaking like before, they hadn’t talked for almost two weeks as gabriel had not the decency to reply to reenie’s messages or would reply with blatant lies, poor excuses. when he called her asking her out, she chuckled and questioned him whether a dinner was really necessary, but agreed on it anyway as it’d perhaps be the last.

neither had said a single word during their thirty-minute drive to the restaurant, and when they were already settled at the table gabriel had reserved, they started eating and drinking wine without saying anything, though perhaps it is more appropriate to say reenie was only poking at her food with the fork — of course, she could not eat. a day ago, when gabriel asked her out, she thought this would be easier, but now that he was in front of him, looking at him, at that face she had kissed for so many years, she couldn’t stand it, a knot formed inside her throat, it almost felt as though she could not breathe. gabriel noticed this; he had been eating, though without really an appetite at all, chewing on the food and swallowing it like a puppet, or a body that needs the nourishment in order to survive, but that is not able to enjoy it. gabriel put down his fork.

“please, eat something,” he begged reenie.

with a slight, almost unnoticeable frown, reenie did not manage to respond and she sat frozen in place, hands holding the knife and fork lifeless by the sides of her plate. she finally set them down on the table and simply grabbed the glass filled with white wine — tonight would most likely not end up like most nights for them, and she needed the alcohol to help her get thru.

“out of all things, i think having dinner together is the less appropriate for what’s to come from your mouth, gabriel,” she gulped down more than half of the content from her glass and set it down. “so, go on, just spit it already. i thought i’d be able to sit here and watch you—watch us eat as if nothing happened, but i can’t. so, go on, speak.”

it was gabriel who then set knife and fork on the table, picking up the napkin to clean the corners of his mouth. it was difficult to bring himself to look at reenie directly in the eye, so he hesitated and the incessant chatter of people speaking and laughing around them made them feel as though they were on a pit, like a rock sinking, sinking, sinking. gabriel sighed and reenie finished the contents of her glass, signaling the waiter to refill her glass, to which he did so obediently and with a smile. but reenie did not look at the waiter, not even once — her eyes were glued to gabriel’s filthy face, plastered with lies the past month, trying to hide the ever so evident truth from her. there was so much rage within her she could barely feel her sadness anymore.

“i’m sorry, reenie,” he finally managed to mutter, and struggled to find the next words. but reenie was impatient, burning inside.

“sorry about what, exactly?” with one arm crossed over her stomach, the other holding her glass up, she squinted at him.

“i did you wrong. i’ve—” gabriel shook his head in frustration. he also couldn’t believe what he was about to blurt out. “i’ve fallen for another. i’m sorry.”

suddenly, all anger left reenie’s body and only a freezing sadness was left in place. she felt empty, cold and miserable, the little alcohol she had had dizzying her already as she had previously eaten nothing. rushing thoughts passed thru her mind and it was hard to pick just one for her to articulate; her lips parted as if to make a sound, but none was made. gabriel blinked too many times in a few seconds and his eyes filled with tears just as reenie set the glass on the table, almost on top of the fork; she was trembling. this had been so much easier in her imagination, but the shock of it seemed to be hitting her just now.

“please, say something,” gabriel pleaded and reached for her hand over the tablecloth, but she avoided his touch.

“i want to leave,” she murmured before quickly gathering her coat and purse and sprinting out of the place.

gabriel was only able to mutter ‘wait’ and leave cash over the table to pay for the dinner bill, after which he grabbed his coat too and chased after reenie.

“wait!” gabriel grabbed reenie by the forearm and made her face him. “we need to talk about this. i need you to... understand. i don’t want it to end like this for you.”

“understand? understand what? that you want to fuck another now? there’s nothing i need to understand about this! nothing! whatever you say, it will end badly for one of us, and it’ll clearly be me. you can’t change that, no matter what you say; it’s over, and it’s painful no matter what you say,” as reenie spat these words against his face, tears escaped her eyes and she struggled to let go of gabriel’s hold, and in the end did. she walked nowhere in particular and was again stopped by gabriel, who stood in her way and wrapped her arms around her.

“it’s cold, put your coat on, at least,” he said these words seemingly devoid of emotion, when in reality tears were also streaming down his cheeks. he dried it with the sleeve of his coat and sniffled.

“you’re gonna regret this, gabriel. you’re so gonna regret this,” reenie sunk her face into his chest and sobbed against it, grabbing onto his coat tight with her fists.

gabriel wrapped reenie’s coat around her shoulders and took her to his car, where they finally sat in silence for maybe half an hour, seeing people past by and cars park and go next to them. both had stopped crying, but reenie just wasn’t able to lift her eyes and look at him, she could only look at her hands and fingers, playing with them nervously.

“i wish there was a way of doing this that wouldn’t hurt you,” gabriel sighed and shook his head, holding onto the steering wheel as if that’d make him feel more in control of the situation.

“just take me home. i want to go home,” reenie’s voice faltered, she was trembling out of pure sadness. “i know it’s over... it’s over between us,” she cried silently whilst staring out the window, though in the end she had to cover her face because the pain was far deeper than anything else.

“don’t— don’t say it like that, i—” gabriel failed at finding the correct words to soothe her; he couldn’t even soothe his own troubled soul. he felt as though he were back to the unstable boy he was before he started a relationship with reenie, so he was scared. was it really worth it, ending this beautiful relationship with reenie, for someone he barely really knew? he gulped. “just... give me some time, alright? i… need a break to... think things through.”

“that’s bullshit, gabriel. if you came this far to ask me for some time, it only means— it only means you no longer love me,” reenie chuckled in the midst of her tears and couldn’t believe her own words: he no longer loved her. a sob escaped her before she opened the car door and stepped out of it, running toward the nearest car and getting on it. she had forgotten her coat in gabriel’s car, but not her purse. there was a man in the car she’d gotten into, her make-up was ruined from the tears as she opened her purse and offered him money. “please, take me home and away from that man,” she begged the stranger, who stared at the money and chuckled before starting the engine of the car.

“where to, miss?” the stranger man passed his phone to reenie, who typed her address in the phone’s gps. she did not mutter a word. “i won’t get nosy about what just happened to you, but i really hope you’re well, or that you can recover from whatever this is pretty soon,” the man spoke into the silence and darkness of the inside of the car. reenie seemed lifeless; she opened the car window, she needed air, lots of it, and the wind hitting her face felt just like what she needed. the man took a couple of glances at her and chuckled silently; she’s cute, he thought.

that night, she was dropped home safe and sound by the man whose name she never asked, and who didn’t accept the money she offered and kindly left her with a smile on his face.

the next weeks were spent in misery both by reenie and gabriel. true, gabriel had scarlet to keep him company, but somehow something did not feel right — perhaps he felt far too guilty for making someone like reenie suffer, someone who had accepted and loved him for who he truly was, someone who had made him so happy during a difficult time in his life; gabriel surely thought reenie deserved better than this. as for reenie, she had nobody to really take care of her, as marla was not in south korea during those days and she had no other friends she could entirely trust in. therefore, she decided to focus on work — she would work as many hours as her body and mental strength allowed her to, so much that by the end of the day she were so exhausted she’d have no time to think about gabriel; it worked on some days, but most days turned out hellish as there were not many clients in town, most of them celebrating new year’s far away from the country. nonetheless, within those hellish days, reenie gained a couple of new clients, among them a man of russian nationality and korean ethnicity, who had come to spent new year’s with his family in seoul — he had brought along his son as well. reenie had to look twice to realize the man’s son was the same stranger who had brought her home the night of her break-up with gabriel.

“my name’s vlad. tis a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he stretched his hand to shake it with reenie’s, whose lips were at first parted in awe (both from the shock of seeing him again and from realizing how charming he actually was), though then quickly she switched it into an affable smile.

that night, the thought of gabriel didn’t make her too sad. instead, she wondered whether that vlad had come with his father to see her by mere coincidence, or if he actually had planned it all along, because he wanted to see her again. she shook her head and sighed, there was no use giving it much thought. after she fell asleep, she dreamed of scarlet — the girl left a message for reenie in her dream. maybe, just like reenie had feared, gabriel was in danger.

Rant!...rant!..rant!!! #GHOSTintheSHELL Live Action Film 🎥 So 😤...just got back from watching one of my fave Japanese series/ franchise ~ Ghost in the Shell on the big screen. Let me start with ~ "I already knew I was gonna be disappointed with this" (...did not really expect anything after the CATASTROPHIC WESTERNISATION* of Dragonball!) but watched it anyway for the heck of it! My biggest issue is... (drum rolls pls*) ~ Major Motoko Kusanagi is being played by Scarlet Johansson! 😑That's because they have totally different body types. They should have casted an Oriental Asian for that role to fit Kusanagi's image! Well they got an asian Aramaki din't they?who speaks actual Nihongo!😩 She just doesn't feel like Major at all! Her mannerisms for one. Should I also mention how AWKWARD Scarlett's walk in the movie is? And the hair! ...the HAIR! 🙀 Halfway thru the film, the only thing keeping me awake and was looking forward to seeing are scenes with views of the Futuristic-Holographic-Neon City, Batou-san, and the BADASS Aramaki in it! (Special mention is The Rabbit & Fox scene.) Overall, Ghost in the Shell Live Action Movie has yet again become a FAILED Western adaptation (in MY opinion) due to casting errors. 😩What a let down! Hope we get a Japanese adaptation soon to make up for it 🙏